Dark Sun Ellensburg

And so our intrepid heroes (read: moribund scoundrels)

made their way down from the ruins of Sumitha to the Cheliaxian fort.
Lo and behold the fort was restored to its former glory,however it was replete with full accoutrements of Cheliax hanging from the battlements and along the walls.

The group knew they would have to tear down the trappings of the evil empire and replace them with something fairly more “piratey” to make an impression upon the council captains coming to be entertained.

Now that Darius had been released from the Soul-Gem, and Shadow having been smote to oblivion, the crew decided to rush down and attack the ship which had entered port and was ransacking their ship in the harbor. After defeating many of the opposing crew, the were-rat captain of the other ship asked for a parley. The captain and admiral (more a Commodore really than an admiral) granted the parley and received in turn a pirates’ booty worth of expensive rum from the captain in turn for his freedom. The skulking assassin found evidence of a booby-trapped ship which would have quite possibly sheared the bottom off of the Hellborne fury had the captain and admiral not struck a deal. Either way, the pirates got a boat-load of fancy rum (literally) for their pirate feast set to commence in a couple of weeks.

Half of the crew decided to set sail for Hell Harbor in exchange for some fresh food and some possible entertainment. Upon arriving, the crew met with some ladies of ill-repute who had served with Antubis at the brothel in Quent. They offered to sign on to the crew if they could go anywhere but Hell Harbor which had treated them poorly and left them nearly destitute. The group agreed to let them attend and made their way back to Island of Empty eyes with new crew and food bounty.

On the island. The barbarian Ren’Kyr and Osiris decided to rustle up some meat by attacking two large triceratops kept in pens near the fort. They were attacked and luckily the peg-leg monk, Sandor was able to keep them somewhat alive until the Tyrannosaurus Rex attacked, nearly swallowing the two whole. They did prevail however and mounted the skull above the gatehouse as a display of pirate prowess.

Roltair was torturing homeless Greg in turn for learning of two ingredients of Black Powder, a new and deadly substance that tantalized his demonic and insane brain. Osiris and Ren’Kyr hobbled back to the fort with Sandor who administered aid and set to working to create a pier and docks for the incoming guests.

The crew back assembled got party preparations under way. The Captain Romska was reunited with he wife of the Shackles, Ms. Smythee and they retired to the Hellborne Fury for a night of romance and reunion. Meanwhile, Sandor and the crew displayed the prowess of the fort defenses by sinking a dingy with a fireball and a ballistae salvo to the amazement of the visiting pirate lords.

Avimaar Sorrinash was amongst the visiting captains and was not as impressed as the other two envoys. The feast began and Roltair started to feel something weird about the rum that had been captured from the were-rat. He notified Sandor who along with the Admiral prevented more guests from quaffing rum while he investigated. He found an empty vial of poison by the rum storage casks and a halfling-sized footprint in the dirt of the cellar. Knowing a fair amount of alchemy, Roltair rushed out to collect seasoning herbs to spread on the dinosaur steaks to counteract any poison the crews may have already ingested. He also purified the rum by infusing the herbs and sent out the treated food. It wouldn’t look very good on the hosts if their guests got really sick.

After eating, Antubis noticed the pirate captain Avimaar getting testy and downright belligerent with one of the serving girls. Antubis went to confront him and ended up being challenged outside. Osiris and Ren’Kyr noticed and followed as well. Sandor made an appearance to try diffuse the situation, but usually has little luck calming the assassin and raging barbarian. Long story short. Roltair found evidence of a drug in Avimaars drink cup and rushed out to stop the ensuing confrontation, even going so far as to demonically intimidate the rest of the combatants. Avimaar however, morphed into a werewolf and went ballistic at the group who had beaten him bloody. The barbarian raging, brought down a stunning blow with his chain and killed the werewolf captain as the rest of the crews rushed out to watch in horror.

Sandor could only shake his head woefully as he watched Roltair turn on his heal and march off in a fit of impotent rage at not being able to stop the murder of a free captain on the council. What will the captain and the admiral do now?

The group of Pirates succeeded in winning the Regatta and earning the respect of the other free captains of the Shackles. After repairing the Fury, the pirates joined the flotilla back to Port Peril to join in an fete worthy of their stature. During the evening’s festivities, the Master of Gales approached the group and let them know the real price to earning seats on the council. They would need to go to the Isle of the Empty eyes and establish a stronghold there worthy of hosting the other free captains. Three months was given to the crew to accomplish their task of seeking out and claiming the Isle as their own.

In town the characters did some buying and selling and some research. Some new crew joined and Antubis got a new follower named Sintubit who idolized the surly quartermaster. Roltair befriended “homeless Greg” and took him aboard ship for charitable purposes, and Shadow and Sandor found out about other ways to become immortal other than Lichdom. Setting sail days later, the crew headed out toward their destiny.

Arriving at the Isle some 3 weeks later, the crew was excited to start exploring and conquering the Isle. The ship ran aground on some shoals and was attacked by a giant octopus setting the stage for a difficult claim to the Isle. The crew anchored in the harbor and set ashore in boats to explore a white-walled fort on the edge of the harbor. They arrived in the fort near nightfall and while the crew was exploring, Antubis the lookout was set upon by some ghastly undead pirates. The crew managed to stave them off before continuing to explore the abandoned fort.

Sanctus managed to get atop the walls and found a way into the large crystal topped tower at the back of the fort. Romska, Sanctus, and Sandor explored the lower levels while the others went upstairs to look around. Downstairs the group was beset by a strange humanoid-headed female Phase spider who captured the Captain and held him for ransom. The evil little halfing, caring nothing for his captain and hoping to take the title for himself, launched a crossbow bolt, hitting the spider in the abdomen. The female head hissed in pain and then sunk her spider fangs into Romska’s neck before dropping him 20 feet to the ground below and phasing out of existence. The ship’s surgeon, weakened from poisonous bites he received was able to save Romska by invoking the power of his deity.

The room was covered in bits of quartz crystal and the monk was able to commune with the thoughts locked within. Images of being underwater with bubbles and a strange arm-bound dial, sitting in a chair looking out over a portal above the clouds; massive fortresses supported by 4 huge towers walking across a snow-capped landscape and launching red beams of power forth were some of the images passing through his mind.

The group slept that evening in the sending crystal tower where they had vivid dreams of an attack and of large one-eyed creatures smashing the quartz room and killing a lone figure inside. They also saw a golden colored gem being stolen by the creatures and the creatures laying waste to the forts inhabitants.

Later as they were exploring, the party ran into a donky-demon dream type creature which scared to of the crew nearly half-to-death and caused some major pain to Antubis and Sandor.

The crew of the Hellborne Fury

Spent their time after killing the foes at the Jasperleaf Apothecary looting the place and taking all of the treasure they could find. The group also found some evidence that the Chelaxians were involved spying on the Shackles. More than likely, the Chelaxians Empire is looking to take over the Shackles and rule their waters and shipping lanes without the fear of pirates. The crew also found the deed and some sales papers for the apothecary which could prove lucrative should their ally Tessa Fairwind sell it for them.

Roltair got himself a couple of pet plant demons that he keeps in a birdlike cage in his quarters on the ship. He was called by Haagenti to sacrifice one of the demons in order to transfer the human bane essence into the crossbow. Roltair chose wisely and the sacrifice and torture of the Demon successfully called the blessing of Haagenti on the enchantment.

The monk, boatswain, quartermaster, and lookout visited Tessa Fairwind and she was ecstatic about the evidence they turned up. She was so happy she called the halfling into her chambers for a private than you. The halfling couldn’t hang so she kicked him out and went for the giant half Orc. The town guards showed up multiple times over the next few days due to civil disturbances and Tessa appeared to have been in a fight with a hill giant after the days of R&R.
Tessa presented the group with a proposition: enter the free captain’s regatta, and earn a spot on the captains council becoming a true force in the Shackles. Also it would be a slap in the face of the captain of the Wormwood, Barnabas Harrigan, their old nemesis.

The crew traveled to the regatta and entered the race. After traveling towards the eye of Abendego the crew dealt with lighting strikes, a mast that sheared off the ship, slowing them down, a lightning strike that fried the halfling up in the crows nest, and a huge Dragon turtle that threatened to capsize their vessel. The crew dealt with this adversity and had to travel through some dangerous reefs, the ship hit a reef hard and allowed other ships to pull ahead. Luckily the crew had some special equipment on the ship that allowed them to catch up. The crew had to fight off a huge lightning elemental and then at the final stretch, the wizard of the Wormwood, Peppery Longfarthing summoned forth 4 invisible Stalkers to try murder the crew of the Fury.

The crew fought off the Stalkers while Antubis was beset by two of them and was almost murdered. Sanctus, Sandor, Roltair, and the Wall held off the Stalkers while Shadow under the influence of captain Darius held the course steady to keep ahead of captain Harrigan.

With the finish line in sight, the crew pushed ahead under Shadow’s guidance and crossed the finish line. As the results were waiting, the crew could see and obvious furious crew of the Wormwood setting forth away from the lost race. The master of Gales called out the winner of the regatta: Hellborne Fury! The crew earned a huge purse, a deed to an uncharted island and seats on the pirate council!

They also earned the undying enmity of Captain Harrigan and crew. Likely they will meet again.

The crew must now set forth to claim their own island in the Shackles. What mysteries and challenges await them there?

Some Key Characters

Captain Barnabas Harrigan – Captain of the Wormwood and the main nemesis to the crew of the Hellborne Fury. Little does Harrigan know that the Fury is the ship that the crew stole from him after overcoming Master Scourge and Plugg

Tessa Fairwind – A popular figure throughout the Shackles, Tessa Fairwind is a Mistress of Quent and captain of the Sloop-of-war Luck of the Draw. Widespread rumor holds she will be the next Hurricane King, either by acclaim or by Force

Kerdak Bonefist – The Hurricane King is a blustery man with a long black beard and long black hair. He looks more pirate htan king. He wears the long coat and tricorne hat of a sea captain rather than the trappings of a king. A tankard of rum rarely leaves his hand, but his most noteworthy features are his wondrous “boom-stick” and his skeletal right hand, the source of his sobriquet.

High Priestess Dindreann – The High priestess of Calistria, she resides in the House of Stolen Kisses in Quent on the northern coast of Motaku Isle

Jaymiss Keft – A half-elf Scrimshander, Jaymiss is middle aged and has a penchant for Black Kelp Beer, nicely warmed. He is a excellent carver of Scrimshaw and lives in the gloomy city of Drenchport on Tempest Cay. He is also a rumormonger and knows a thing or two.

Haneilius Fitch – An old human physician, Haneilius has a Taldan accent and was a shipmate aboard the Brine Banshee many years ago before it disappeared. Fitch lives in the port of Ollo, a foul and wretched place lorded over by the bestial pirate lord Avimar Sorrinash.

The Master of Gales – The ruler of Drenchport and captain of the Xebec Kraken, the mysterious Master of Gales is one of the Shackles’ most powerful and enigmatic pirate lords.

Pierce Jerrell – The captain of the schooner Salty Flagon, Pierce wants nothing more than to live life to its fullest. He loves the adventure and excitement piracy brings, and enjoys spending his plunder on the finer things in life. He assisted the officers of the Hellborne Fury in a brawl at a tavern in Port Peril, and can be relied upon as an ally and a competitor.

Zarskia Galembar- The head alchemist at the Jasperleaf Apothecary in Port Peril, Zarskia Galembar is a Mwangi female with long dreadlocked hair. She has been implicated by the crew of the Hellborne Fury as the possible head of a Cheliaxian spy ring, and one who funded the assassinations of Corlan the Tengu, Haddon Pike, and Roweena Kellet

Our intrepid crew

had just tried to swindle the physician out of half of the loot unaware that he had been spying on them through the ring. The pirate lord of the isle set forth with a flotilla of 8 ships to attempt to recover the sunken treasure left behind by the crew. Deciding on a more prudent course of action, the crew set sail for Beachcomber to visit the temple of Norgorber.

Upon arriving at the temple, the crew revealed the Brine Banshee’s secret was the wheel taken from the deck itself. The wheel, now affixed to the Fury aids the crew in the same manner. The crew was told about a scrimshaw carver named Jaymiss Keft and his penchant for black kelp beer. Sandor purchased some beer before hunting down Jaymiss in Drenchport. Jaymiss was like able and pointed the crew towards some possible leads in town. Following a lead, the crew found a dead body partially devoured by a pet piranha-like fish. Roltair kept the fish to help with rituals to Haagenti while Ren’Kyr smashed things in the house. Anubis managed to find some gold and Romska and Sandor managed to decipher a Chelish Opera which was code for some spy activities.

Chasing the trail, the crew managed to eventually find their way to an apothecary in Port Peril which held the head spy herself, a Mwangi native female alchemist. The crew got this information by capturing, interrogating, and killing one of her paid assassins.

After fighting a massive snake tentacled puma and the alchemist herself, the crew emerged victorious with hopefully the answers to Tessa Fairwind’s request.

Also, in the heat of battle, Sanctus fell asleep by setting off a trap downstairs in the kitchen trying to get into an interesting looking door, and Antubis methodically looted the downstairs while his crew mates were fighting desperately for their lives upstairs. Ever his jovial self, Shadow let one of the apothecary guards hold his black blade while the essence of Darius dominated the poor sap and forced him to turn the blade on himself.

Antubis has never been quite the same since being mesmerized by the Aboleth at the bottom of a deep trench, while Ren Kyr redecorated the apothecary with the splattered remains of his enemies. Sandor, a paragon of law, could only try and steer his murderous, torturous, thieving, conniving, cheating, and backstabbing crew mates towards a path less sadistic and less suicidal while Romska continued to issue orders driving the crew onward towards the goal.

Setting sail

from Port Peril, the crew of the Fury headed towards the House of Stolen kisses. There the crew met with the high priestess of Calistria, where they were given the task to recover a holy relic in exchange for a secret gained by the sacred prostitutes at the temple through their liaisons with customers in the Shackles.

The crew then set forth to discover the temple of Norgorber at the Temple of the hidden name. Once eventually gaining access to the temple by talking to the halfling inhabitants of Beachcomber, the crew are led into the temple by a cherubic masked halfling. There the pirates exhcange some information about a ship they attacked in return for some secrets the followers of Norgorber have. The crew learns that a water naga named Sarliss holds some clues to the spies operating in the Shackles, and also learn about an Orcish pirate captain who may have stolen the precious artifact from the House of Stolen Kisses.

The crew sets forth and comes upon the Wreckers, a crew hidden in illusory terrain to lure ships into a hazardous reef, once there the crew is attacked by the Half-Orc female pirate Vakarla and her crew. The Fury fights off the Wreckers and exiles Vakarla after killing her crew and recovering treasure and the artifact from the hideout. Vakarla was last seen in her underwear, manning a dingy laden with her personal chest leaving the Shackles for good.

The crew venture on to confront Sarliss and after many attempts to gain her affection, they finally get her to tell them that she wants them to get revenge on her ex naga lover. The PC’s oblige, humiliating the male water naga and gaining some more clues into possible Chelaxian and Sargavan influences in the Shackles.

At the house of stolen kisses, the crew is “rewarded” for their efforts and also given more clues to the whereabouts of the Brine Banshee. The high priestess, Dindreann also provides a male concubine who wishes to give up a life of prostitution and become a Swashbuckler on the high seas. Antubis becomes part of the crew and is immediately assigned the role of Quartermaster on the ship. This ship was lost at sea and has some special speed that the followers of Norgorber wish to find out. The crew are sent to Ollo to meet Haneilius Fitch, a surgeon who gives them a lead on a magical wring and provides a leg bone from one of the crew of the Brine Banshee. After signing a free captain’s contract to provide Fitch with half of the recovered non-magical treasure from the ship, the physician gives the name of MilkSop Morton, a pirate who patrols the waters looking for weak ships to prey upon.

The crew of the Hellborne Fury quickly hunt down and slaughter MilkSop Morton and take his stuff, press-ganging some of his crew and sinking the rest (except for some choice offerings set aside for Roltair to use when worshipping Haagenti). The crew return to Fitch on Ollo and learn that the ring Milksop wore can track the drowned crew of the Brine Banshee by using the leg-bone from one of the crew.

The crew track down the wreckage and Roltair dives headlong into the brine. Immediately he is accosted by A vicious Shark merman and his shiver of sharks. After making short work of the overly intrepid Roltair and leaving him for dead, the rest of the crew manage to fight off the guardians of the wreckage and save Roltair.

Demonwing

surfaced on the Fever Sea.

As the invisible crew made headway towards the Pirate stronghold of Port Peril and the court of the Hurricane King, the intrepid pirates discovered something unexpected….a transforming ship.
The Demonwing, a slow, ponderous, and attention grabbing behemoth of a stone ship was able to switch places with the pirates’ own ship, the Hellborne Fury on Haagenti’s realm in the Abyss. Still unsure of how much Abyssal presence the Demonwing carried with it, the Crew decided best to try make their go using the conventional pirate ship.

Days later, and crewing a ship normally manned by 20 seasoned sailors with a crew of but 5, the Hellborne fury limped into port, driven by an exhausted and radically changed officer’s corps. Upon arriving at Port Peril, the pirates were greeted by a large half-orc spokesman for the Hurricane King’s court. He challenged the crew to a test of piracy by arranging them to fight off a ship-board foe. Dragging out large cages filled with giant monstrosities known as Marsh Giants, Tsadok the half-orc unleashed them upon the Hellborne Fury.

A momentous battle ensued in which one of the Marsh Giants, Fishpork, had his lifelong friend killed at the end of “the wall’s” spiked chain. Fishpork later met his own death much to the amusement of diminutive Sanctus who observed the action from the battlements above. Sanctus approached the crew and offered to become the newest member and lookout for the Hellborne Fury.

Welcomed to the Hurricane King’s fortress, the party, along with their newfound heavy crossbow toting halfling lookout entered the kings feasthall with much applause and revelry. The Hurricane king demanded the pirates regale the hall with a story of piracy on the high seas and Roltair told the story of how the crew vanquished Whalebone Pilk, thereby indirectly rescuing Sandor the Religious Monk. During the telling of the tale, common Pirate antics such as cat-calling and shouting down the orator were met with a smashed lute over the head by Romska, and a new pet “Ren-Kyr’s Bitch” who happened to disturb the half-orc’s drinking to such a degree that he decided to take him as an “aide” after knocking out all of his teeth and putting him to “sleep”
The Hurricane King presented Captain Romska with the Letter of Marque, recognizing the crew as a free pirate ship and Romska as a free captain of the Shackles, able to pillage and engage in piracy with the full sanction of the Pirate King council. The after party was to follow at an alehouse near the docks.

At the alehouse, the pirates got to drinkin’ and carousing. A charismatic and friendly rival captain, Pierce Jerrell introduced himself and warned the Pirates of a tricky drink meddler before helping the crew during an all out bar-brawl in which Ren Kyr and Sandor chased down the plucky girl who had been observed messing with drinks. As the militia were called, Pierce helped the crew escape with their new prisoner and vowed to see them again on the high seas where they could engage in friendly wagers and showboat rivalry. The prisoner turned out to be Caulky Muldoon, a cabin steward of Captain Harrigan who had drugged the Pirates’ drinks when they were press-ganged. She was caught trying to do it again and related to the crew that she had no love for Harrigan but was forced to do his bidding. She also said he set sail in the morning, with or without her aboard. Realizing their nemesis was so close, the Pirates desired to give chase only realizing they didn’t have the crew for the Hellborne Fury and the Demonwing wasn’t fast enough on the Prime material plane to catch a ship such as the Wormwood. A showdown with Harrigan would need to wait until another day.

Meanwhile, the party was able to bail out the arrested scallywags from the drunk tank and press-ganged them into service under the Boatswain Ren-Kyr. The Captain, Lookout and Quartermaster all received an invitation to meet with the influential pirate captain Tessa Fairwind at her townhouse in Port Peril, while the First Mate surreptitiously murdered in cold Blood the tavern owner, Peg-Leg Penelope’s Father.

Tessa, who took an instant liking to the 2 foot tall Sanctus, talked of intrigue and the very real threat of a Cheliax invasion and conquering of the Shackles. Suspecting some two timing and spying afoot, she mentioned that the crew could gain influence and power by investigating some of the leads pointing to inside help for the Chelaxians. Agreeing to help Tessa, and 8 hours of cross-bow lessons by Sanctus later, the crew set sail.

The crew came upon a large Cheliaxian merchant vessel, and being the pirates that they are, they attacked and pillaged the ship, gaining some crew and plunder for their further adventures.

The party has returned from the abyss.

At least most of them have. After fighting through legions of abyssal hordes in the “hold” of the demonwing, the party finally fought their way to a large black massive orb floating in a room at the far end of the ship.

The Half-orc, the captain, and the alchemist all touched the dark-matter sphere, instantly disappearing. It took the ingenuity of the rogue and the monk to discover a positive matter analog to be used on the sphere itself to grant passage.

Upon placing the smaller orb against the larger orb, a portal opened up and a vast ocean of emptiness awaited them. The two adventurers entered the portal and could see constellations of stars in the images of their missing companions. Willing themselves over to each constellation, the power of the sphere was able to bring everyone back to prime material…except for captain Darius.

Unfortunately Darius had his life-force sucked out of his husk of a body and transmuted into a gem. A flickering hint of the captain can be seen within the gem when it is peered into intently.

The party only had to fight a massive chained demon, interact with some strange extra-planar beings on the ship, including a Githyanki from somewhere (or somewhen) else. And the party discovered an abyssal forge that had turned out magical abysmally enchanted weapons. The party had a close encounter with a couple of Vrocks as well.

After reaching the far end of the portal with the orb, the party landed on the deck of the demonwing as it hurtled along the river Styx. An ensuing battle with the current Glabrezu captain of the ship left the party battered and broken, but ultimately alive (save for the soul-trapped captain Darius) Having conquered the ship’s captain, the intrepid pirates took command of the ship and hurtled off of a massive waterfall, only to land smack-dab on the fever Sea in the Shackles.

A new companion is introduced

The illustrious officers of the Hellborn Fury finally made it to land. The faint light illuminating the blood-red sea allowed the characters to see the stark contrast of midnight-black cliffs reflecting a reddish bloody glow. Upon reaching the inlet of the landmass, the pirates were able to walk across the congealing blood forming on the hull of their ship like some sort of abyssal barnacles and make there way to shore.

Once upon shore, the faint outline of a figure could be seen huddling on the shiny black obsidian gravel at their feet. Upon further inspection and heated confrontation, it was determined that they had stumbled upon the peg-legged martial artist and faith-healer, Sandor. Formerly a member of Whalebone Pilk’s press-ganged crew of the undead; Sandor found himself here, stranded on this beach. Time will tell if Sandor actually perished with the rest of the undead crew upon the Death Knell, or if his physical body was actually sent to the Abyss.

The loud clanging sound of moving clockwork and grinding gears served to get the pirates moving. The shoreline behind them ended in a drop-off as they felt the earth beneath them rumble and race skyward. Mountains of pure obsidian spread apart, revealing a pathway up through the crevasse. The characters traveled for a time before coming to a narrow ledge, the sound of gears and clockwork closing off and advancing the solid obsidian cliff-face behind them.

Renkyr and Poop-Deck Pete slipped from the ledge and fell headlong onto a plain littered with sharp 10’ obsidian spikes. Impaled upon the spikes, the two helpless pirates had to wait as their companions could come down to help them off of the spikes. The spikes retreated to the ground with the sound of clockwork and the pirates were stuck facing hideously distorted demonic versions of themselves.

After a bloody battle, the Pirates were successful and saw a gleaming tower of black crystal rising 1,000 feet above the obsidian plain. Atop this crystal spire was a massive fortress of cold iron. The sound of spinning blades and clanking chains could be heard emanating from the tower.

The group made its way to the tower only to be impeded by a massive vortex of spinning blades suspended from the tower by chains counter-rotating. One unfortunate powder-monkey placed his body in the midst of the spinning blades, only to be cut down mercilessly. After some debate and fruitless interaction with large iron statues surrounding the base of the spire in the distance, Renkyr decided to hurl his chain into the spinning blades. His chain wrapped around the spinning blades and after digging in his heels and flexing his 7’3" muscled frame, he was able to destroy one of the chain blades spinning around the spire. A number of successful entanglements later and the group was able to cross into the courtyard of the spire.

The pirates noticed strange abyssal markings upon each of the 8 statues and an iron bar at the far end of the courtyard. After figuring out the order in which to speak the words while grasping the iron bar, the party was whisked up 1,000 feet to the entrance of the iron fortress. After Roltair placed his hands in markings seemed meant only for him, the sound of gears an clockwork opened the massive iron doors of the palace. The fortress itself transformed into a shiny solid-brass fortress once the party entered. A spiral staircase suspended around a geared column rose into the void above.

Upon reaching the top of the stairwell, the party came to a door which opened into a vast expanse; brass platforms rose in a myriad of patterns from the landing on which the characters stood. One of the characters stepped onto a platform and the sound of meshing gears and clockwork rang througout the void. The platform descended and moved around and up into the void. Once the PC’s made it all onto their own platforms, they found themselves surrounding a stone throne upon a brass dais. Seated in the throne was a figure that looked like a non-descript man, but would shift and project the image of a bull headed monstrosity, both terrible and beautiful to behold.

“I am Haagenti” the Demon overlord proclaimed “Welcome to the realm of Cerebulium” Haagenti had little interest in what the characters had to offer, rather he had a deal for them. Conquer the ship Demonwing and they would be able to navigate the river Styx back to the Prime material plane. Once arriving on the plane, they would retain the Demonwing and use it to advance Haagenti’s agenda in Golorian.

The characters wasted no time in boarding the Demonwing. Admiral Darius cast a magical spell that allowed him to gaze upon the deck of the ship. He could see the ship piloted by a crew of undead and demonic figures, shrouded in invisibility. He tried to attack the captain, a large muscular demon at the ship’s helm, but a mysterious invisible force separating the stern castle from the rest of the ship ricochet the lightning bolt back to the rest of the companions. From there, the companions descended down into the decks of the ship where they were confronted with Manes, Hezrou, and other demons of the abyss.

Conquering the Demonwing wasn’t going to be as easy as they thought……..

The pirates have gone to hell (abyss)

What happens when you have a mysterious scar burned into your arm, an insatiable need to let the blood of the innocents, and a mysterious golden disk on your ship that has various images on it matching your scar?

Well as our illustrious Quartermaster/Cook’s mate/Powder Monkey/Ranger/Alchemist found out, it’s a quick one-way ticket to the abyss.

Roltair, the arrow-slinging Ranger had been killed by the Sahuagin chieftain Kelloort. The party took Roltair back to the Locathah tribe to be resurrected. Roltair made a deal with a very old Locathah in the void between life and death before being returned to the land of the living. He would become a student of alchemy in return for the gift of life. He agreed to the terms of the deal and was once again part of the crew.

Something strange happened however as he had a mysterious tattoo burned into his forearm upon waking, and the locathah banished him from the tribe, including his wife, the locathah matron.

So the new alchemist and the crew headed to Port Peril to offload plunder and gain some infamy and disrepute by bragging about the discovery of the legendary treasure inked on Locke’s back. Once arriving, the new alchemist found himself driven to murder a young scribe in the library, but were it not for the half-orc’s play on words during the trial, the party could have faced death or prison.

Realizing things were getting pretty hot in port, and that something was wrong with Roltair. Captain Darius and First Mate Romska decided to head back out to sea to continue piracy. The strange disk found on Locke’s ship had them puzzled when they noticed one of the markings matched the marking on Roltair’s arm. After fiddling with it for awhile, a small facet of the disk opened up and dark red blood started to deluge out of the opening. After seeming hours of the deluge and horrific visions, the crew awoke to a pitch blackness; the deck coated in sticky, congealing blood. Light would barely illuminate anything and the crew was blind. As the Captain, First mate and alchemist went looking for survivors, the Boatswain, Ren’Kyre was attacked by an unseen force. Whipping out his spiked chain, the creature summarily swallowed it. Not to be deterred, Ren’Kyre shoved his arm down the thing’s maw and used the chain to beat the thing to death by smashing it repeatedly upon the decks. The poison from the thing had affected Ren’Kyre and cursed his chain. He now wears the chain wrapped tightly in concentric circles around his head while leaving the tail end free to attack. It stops the bleeding.

After trying to raise the dead crew, and succeeding in only summoning dimwitted, depraved dretches, Captain Darius set about forcing the dretches to row the ship upon the sea of blood. One name has been revealed to the players: Haagenti, and they are on a search for him.